Last week I saw an author make an offer: for every copy of his book that got pre-ordered, he would donate a dollar to Heifer.org, and his publisher would match it. And given that mantra that “Bad poets borrow; great poets steal” (take from that what you will) I will gladly steal this writer’s promotional tactic.

The Wrong Enemy now has a preorder page on my publisher’s website. It’s available in Kindle format as well as epub (the format used by Nook, Kobo, iBooks) and also PDF and HTML formats for those who read ebooks on their computers. There won’t be a print edition until the ebook sells really well.

The book’s release date is 9/28, so two weeks from now. During pre-order, the book is discounted 20%, so it’s only $4.76.

I can see the preorder numbers, so I’ll make this offer:

For every copy pre-ordered, I’ll donate a dollar to Heifer International.

Heifer International is a global nonprofit organization founded in 1944 with the goal of ending hunger and poverty in a sustainable fashion. What they do? They show up, give poor families a means of earning income, and train them in how to use it. Supposedly their most successful gift is a pair of goats, from whom a family might get as much as a gallon of milk a day, increasing their protein intake and giving them a source of income (from selling extra milk and cheese.) The gift of livestock is sustainable (goats are very good at making more goats, for example) and within three years, the recipient is able to donate an identical gift to another family in the community, thus spreading the benefit.

Let’s go for it: let’s buy them a goat! Or two. Or a dozen.

In short, if you think you’re probably going to get the book eventually, I’d really like to ask you to pick it up in the pre-order phase. The publisher is offering the discount, and I’m offering the dollar toward a goat (or a flock of goats — that would not bother me if several thousand people pre-ordered the book, trust me) and then you get to read about Tabris, the only guardian angel to have broken Heaven’s one written law.

7 Responses to Of angels and baby goats

I did it, Jane. Would you put my dollar in for a llama? Mama always gave rabbits, goats, and llamas–either in whole or half–to us for Christmas once we started making donations the gift of choice instead of things no one needed.